Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Muslim Brotherhood:
Islamic Extremists and the Threat to America

Preaching Holy War From Brooklyn

"I send recordings to Cairo in which I call upon my
people to attack tourists. I explain to them that we must
stop tourism to Egypt. Tourism is a plague. [Western] women
come dressed in provocative clothing in order to arouse the
believers. Tourists use drugs, they party all night in the
clubs and casinos, and feel up the belly dancers. And our
people [the Egyptians] their eyes are popping out from envy
in trying to imitate the infidel tourists." [61]
Sheik 'Umar Abd al-Rahman, also known as Omar Abdel-
Rahman, spiritual leader of Al-Jihad
in Egypt.[62]

"The lands of Muslims will not become bordellos for
sinners of every race and color."
Sheik 'Umar Abd al-Rahman, on an audio tape sent from the
U.S. to Egypt.

In Egypt, the cradle of the Muslim Brotherhood
movement, a more militant offshoot of the organization made
newspaper headlines worldwide on October 6, 1981. At a
military procession commemorating Egypt's successes in the
1973 Yom Kipur War, President Anwar Sadat was gunned down by
members of Al-Jihad while sitting in a reviewing stand. The
spiritual leader of the group, Sheik 'Umar Abd al-Rahman,
issued a fatwa, or edict, sanctioning the assassination but
was acquitted of direct involvement. Twelve years later,
"Sheik 'Umar" - as he is called by his adherents - is
directing his war against the Mubarak government from
American shores. His followers, who refer to themselves as
the "Islamic Group," receive guidance from him in the form
of audio cassettes recorded in the United States.

Several months ago, Sheik Rahman promised that a fatwa
against Egyptian President Husni Mubarak is "[o]n the way."

The sheik continued:

"It is the duty of all good Muslims to rebel against
tyrants. The Egyptian people will not accept being whipped
and raped and robbed by the corrupt Mubarak regime." [63]

In May of 1990 Sheik Rahman entered the United States
on a tourist visa in spite of the fact that his name was on
the official U.S. terrorist list. The State Department
claims that the American Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan's
capital, erroneously issued the visa. After Sheik Rahman was
already residing in this country, the Immigration an
Naturalization Service made a second error by granting him
permanent resident status as a religious leader on April 9,
1991.[64]

In March of 1992, Rahman was stripped of his green
card, and on January 20 of this year he was
summoned to a federal hearing in Newark to respond to
charges that he "lied on his visa application, that he is a
polygamist and that he has committed unspecified 'crimes of
moral turpitude."[65] At his own request, the hearing was
closed to the public.[66] No decision was reached at that
time.[63] On March 16, an Immigration and Naturalization
Service administrative judge ruled that Sheik Rahman be
deported from the United States since he had not told INS
officials that he is a polygamist and that he had been
convicted of falsifying a check while he was still living in
Egypt in 1987.[66] The full text of the decision was not made
public at the request of Rahman's lawyer, Barbara Nelson,
who stated, "He has no intention of leaving . . . He intends
to stay and pursue his claim for permanent residency." [69]

During the time that he has been in the United States,
Sheik Rahman has, through his fiery sermons on cassette
tapes, directed his followers from afar. His organization,
known both as Al-Jiluld (Holy War) and Al Jama'a al-lslamiya
- the Islamic Group has assassinated Egyptian government
officials such as the late speaker of the Parliament, Rifat
al-Mahjub, in its efforts to establish an Islamic state in
that country.[70] Members of the group have also targeted
Coptic Christians in Upper Egypt.[70] More recently,
American and other Western tourists have been marked for
assassination by Sheik Rahman, severely damaging Egypt's
tourism industry in the process.[72]

Paralleling the fatwa pronounced on Salman Rushdie by
the Ayatollah Khomeini, Faraj Fodha,
a writer and severe critic of the Egyptian Islamic
extremists, was murdered by followers of Sheik Rahman in
June of 1992. Members of the organization who were
interviewed by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir justified
their actions by invoking their interpretation of Islamic
law:

"[Fodha] was killed in accordance with the shari'ah
[Islamic legal] ruling against apostates. A group of Muslim
'ulema [scholars], including At-Azhar Mosque scholars, ruled
that he reneged on Islam and shari'ah entitles a devout
Islamic group to implement its provisions since the ruler
[i.e. President Mubarak] is an atheist. Killing Faraj Fodha was our Islamic
duty . "[73]

Recent reports indicate that, according to the U.S.
intelligence community, Sheik Rahman has been receiving
funding for some of his activities from Iran.[74] Rather
than receiving the money directly, one of Rahman's wives
acts as an intermediary, sending him funds from Egypt, where
she and his other wife reside.[75]

Within the United States, Sheik Rahman has maintained a
relationship with El Sayyid Nosair, the Egyptian-born
individual convicted of crimes related to the murder of
Rabbi Meir Kahane. Subsequent to Nosair's imprisonment,
Sheik Rahman has ensured that his wife and family receive
financial support until his release.[76] Additionally,
followers of the sheik at the Abu Bakr mosque in Brooklyn
offer a $45 bus trip to visit "Brother El Sayyid Nosair" at
Attica state prison."[77] Nosair has been described in press
reports as a "frequent worshipper" at the mosque where
Rahman preaches in Brooklyn,[78] and is currently serving a
term of seven to 23 years for his crimes.

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